Sterac — One with Hats

Listening to this, I was put in mind of when I was a kid and I used to draw circles around insects that had unwittingly stepped onto the paper I was doodling on, watching them becoming confused and just walking round and round….round and round in never ending circles unable to navigate a point of exit. This is the only way I could see the punters being kept on the dancefloor to this poor techno effort. Ultimately boring. 1 / 5

Tone E

Subhead — Arucknophobia

Both the first two tracks, "Toxic" and "Lost and found" deliver a lot of promise in a Gabba style, but could do with injection up the back passage with a large needle labelled "imagination". There is potential however — track 3, "Hunt you" is a more techno vibe but still lacking in any real content to sink your teeth into. Nothing to make your toes curl anyway. Track 4 is just mad!

Incidentally the white noise at the end is the one thing that swung the pendulum in Subhead’s favour. 3 / 5

Tone E

My Vitriol — Losing Touch (Infectious)

Thank god these are not the next ‘Green Day’ or ‘Blink 182’, otherwise I think I would have long since reached for the eject button. I think I must have something against kids acting out the fantasy of Sid and Johnny in a centrally heated rehearsal studio!

However on this, their debut single, no such antics. Rather music that treads a fine line between the punk/grunge of Nirvana and the head long sounds of a thrash nightmare! But reading further, ‘Losing Touch’ seems a very good explanation of what they are trying to achieve, with the later two tracks here disclosing a side of their character that at first is not apparent. A fantastic selection of tracks, especially the inclusion of a very good ‘Eugenius’ cover, a debut I cetainly hope they are able to sustain. 5/5

Nick James

Laying somewhere between Joy Division, The Fall and Africa Bambaata, this is the debut short player from a group that you might well here a lot more from if you move in the right circles. Not just the standard recipe that you might expect from a three piece, guitar/bass/drums combo. No, we’re getting terribly experimental here with a full orchestra of stratch, synth, samples and more, adding to an ever-expanding palette. To get the full enjoyment, listen closely to the samples. 4/5

Nick James

Ever since ‘Perfecto’s’ work with U2 of a few years ago, I have been a fan. But this is formulae garage, nothing special, nothing to endear yourself to it and no ‘Perfecto Stamp’. If you want Stella Browne, then just listen to Ultra Nate, she did it with more devotion. 0/5

Nick James

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